Keeping Faith
by Malting
Summary: The story of a wocky called Shiinya, and her struggle with life - cliche, I know, but thats how I describe it.
1. Its a Hard Life

This is a story won a (rather pathetic) prize for in my guild. I'm fairly proud of it.  
  
When I was very young, I lived with my owner, in a two-room straw shack on the edge of the metropolis of Neopia Central. There was just her, me, and my older sister, Gemmalia, a soft-furred blue uni. Back then, I was a wocky, small and red. I was innocent and trusting then, and I knew my owner would always love me.  
  
We were poor, so poor that Gemmalia and I spent much of our time hanging around the Soup Kitchen, trying to push our way into the queue for food. The thing that is clearest to me about those times was the hunger, the constant gnawing in my stomach that was only occasionally, if ever, appeased. Every month, we would get a special treat – an apple, perhaps, to share between the two of us, or if we were lucky, a furry orange fuzzle, to replace an older, broken one.  
  
Most of the time, my owner was gone, off playing games, she said. She was very good – she had several trophies, that she kept locked up in the glass- fronted cupboard in the bedroom. Strange, that I never wondered where the money went. But then, I was always out on the streets if I was not at the Soup Kitchen, not the bright, wide paths of the main shops, but the dark, stinking alleys that twisted through the lower part of the city. Young though I was, I learnt to steal, cheat and lie, and my best friend was a green gelert who lived on the streets and was a part-time thief and pickpocket.  
  
And then came the day when I was exploring the slimy drains, trying to find out if the long drain that went under Rainbow Lane really did lead to the elite Winding Wood Drive. It did. As I crawled out of the muck, with my best friend, Gelert, (she didn't have an owner, and the thieves and strays she lived with called her that) behind me. It was very beautiful. The road was made of smooth white stones fitted together. It gently curved through masses of bright green trees, and among the branches, glimpses of neohomes could be seen, made of bright, shining marble, silver and gold, with the occasional shimmer of cloud.  
  
One house in particular stood out. Tall, made of glowing gold and shaped like a pyramid, with a garden full of rare, exotic plants. Around a heart tree, a faerie chia fluttered gently, a tiny pikis floating behind.  
  
"Maaa!!" It – she – yelled, and a tall woman with steely blond hair went up towards her. She seemed familiar somehow… And then she spoke. And I knew her. I had heard her voice many times before – it was the low, melodious voice of my owner. Underneath my fur, my skin turned white. This was where she spent most of her time. This was where the missing money went. And it was then I knew that I could never trust her again. Gemmalia and I were just a cover for an account used to make fast money. I knew that, deep down. And I hated her for it. I thought she loved me. I had idolized her. And yet…  
  
Something one of my other best friends had said came back to me suddenly. Kitsubii was – still is – a wocky, just like me. He's blue, though, and unlike Gelert, he had an owner, once, and a name. But his owner betrayed him, and Kitsubii fled to the streets. Once, he told me that no matter how much you loved an owner, they sold you and broke your heart, still smiling as they did so. I realized how true that was that day. 


	2. Keeping Faith

When I got back, later that day, my owner was waiting outside the shack, with a grim look on her face, and Gemmalia sobbing beside her.  
  
"You spied on me, didn't you?" she yelled. "No, don't answer back, you – you smelly WOCKY. I never want to see you again, or this one, either!!" A knot of fear twisted in my stomach.  
  
"Not… not the – the Po…" I breathed in horror. Memories of childhood terrors came back to me – iBe a good girl, Shiinya, or Dr Death will come and take you to the Pound… Don't do that, Shiinya, or you'll end up in the Pound…/i  
  
"Yes, Shiinya, the Pound," my owner glared. Gemmalia cried quietly, tears staining her beautiful fur.  
  
And that was it. We were allowed to eat a bit, and keep our one tatted fuzzle. In a moment of generosity, Gemmalia gave it to me. I still have it, even today. And then it was the Pound.  
  
I never saw Gemmalia again, though I know that she was adopted twice, first by a short, plump man who painted her yellow, then abandoned her, and second by a pretty ten-year old girl with a kind face. I stayed in the Pound, though. No-one wanted a scrawny red wocky.  
  
But I was healthy enough – until the Neopox epidemic. Hundreds of sick pets began pouring into the pound, abandoned there because their owner's couldn't afford the cure. And in the cramped cages of the Pound, the disease spread like lightning. No-one was safe – me included. Within two days of the first case, my skin was covered in itchy red spots, and I lay sprawled on the ground in a feverish daze. The owners of the Pound arranged for the Healing Faerie to visit every three days, and her magic saved many lives. But her powers never reached me. I was slowly slipping to the point of no return.  
  
One night after the Healing Faerie had come, leaving me feeling slightly better, though by no means cured, I heard a familiar voice whispering near me.  
  
"Shiinya! Shiinya, wake up!"  
  
"Kit- Kitsubii? What are you doing here?" I croaked.  
  
"I've got something for you," he murmured, holding out something in one grubby paw. It had a strange, yet delicious smell. "It's the cure. Gelert sto… got it for you".  
  
Too weak to thank him, I nibbled on it until it was gone. The green cheese on top of the Neopox pizza was cold and congealing, but the bottom was still warm, and it tasted nice.  
  
And then I fell asleep, tired out, and I missed seeing Kitsubii go.  
  
In the morning I was better. "A miracle!" exclaimed the Uni. Dr Death just smiled mysteriously, and I wondered if he had overheard Kitsubii and I talking, for he was usually awake at night.  
  
Later that day – another miracle. I was adopted, by a kind girl in her late teens, with long dark hair and eyes like green fire. Her name was Galadriels_Child, and she was the nicest owner I'd ever met.  
  
She lived on the Island Crescent, in Mystery Island. I had never been outside Neopia Central before, but I loved it there. The sun was warm and shining, and when I was hungry, ripe tropical fruit was there for the picking.  
  
There, I had three siblings – Sheniyoi, a shadow shoyru, Taquiti the silver Kougra, Lhandra the faerie peophin, and me, Shiinya – who Galadriel painted fire.  
  
The year I spent with Galadriel was the happiest of my life. I was painted – something so far out of reach that the Shiinya of old had never even dared dream of.  
  
Sheniyoi and I became very close, and in the darkness of the night we whispered our secrets to one another. I learnt to swim, and spent much of my time in the water with Lhandra. Taquiti took me into the depths of the jungle, to find hidden caves, mossy glades, and the ripest of fruit.  
  
Later, when faerie petpets came out, I was given a beautiful faerie moltenore. I named her Saati, and she and I were inseparable. Sheniyoi already had a sweet Halloween flizzardo called Hkani, Lhandra loved her white anubis Morga, and later, Taquiti's trumpadon Tiinayi was painted purple.  
  
But like all good things, my wonderful time there didn't last. One hot summer's day, Galadriel went to the tropical food store to buy a few phears for dinner, and did not return.  
  
Three days later, the authorities had come in to check that we were okay. Since Lhandra and Sheniyoi were over 18 months old, we were allowed to stay in our beautiful bamboo neohome, and we could keep our fluffy cloud bedrooms, keep galadriel's neopoints, and all her items. We were able to play a few games, but not able to leave Mystery Island until all of us were 18 months. I was the youngest of us, and I had another seven to go.  
  
Though you never heard about it, sometimes owners just… disappeared. Sometimes they would be gone forever; sometimes they would turn up again after a year or so. That was why we weren't sent to the Pound.  
  
And as for Gelert and Kitsubii, trapped in the slums of Neopia Central? Well, the day I turned 18 months, the four of us went to the city, and I went back to the slums I remembered so well. Kitsubii was there; and Gelert; and Gelert's mate, Forgotten_Secret, a handsome red gelert; as well as Cirruna, a once-rich cloud lupe who had fallen from the heights and fled to the streets. She had a small blue doglefox called Miira, and he came back with us too, to our home in the Island.  
  
We live there still, Gelert, who is rainbow now, and Secret, who is shadow, and their three faerie pups; Kitsubii, now gold, myself, and the glowing kitten that we are the parents of; Cirruna, who walks alone; like Taquiti, and like Lhandra; and Sheniyoi and his beloved Iry, the desert shoyru. If Galadriel ever returns, she will find her family huge, but she would love them all, as we loved her.  
  
Galadriel has not returned, though. For a long time, we would hope she would one day just walk in the door, but as the months past, our hope faded. But all of us love her still, and if ever she comes walking down the path to our home, we will welcome her with open arms. For Galadriel rescued all of us from a life of despair in the Pound or on the streets, and keeping faith with her is the least we can do. 


End file.
